Islandeady Pilot Broadband Scheme

The Bull

Anyone know anything about this? I heard yesterday on MIDWEST news that Mayo County Council were in talks with two companies on delivering High Speed Internet to houses in the Islandeady area. I'm assuming it is a similar pilot scheme that is been rolled out in Belcarra. Any have any info on it or where to get info?

RMDrive

The Bull wrote: »

Anyone know anything about this? I heard yesterday on MIDWEST news that Mayo County Council were in talks with two companies on delivering High Speed Internet to houses in the Islandeady area. I'm assuming it is a similar pilot scheme that is been rolled out in Belcarra. Any have any info on it or where to get info?

First I've heard of it but bring it on!

irishgeo

why are the council getting involved in this?

Westnet: Paul

We're one of the companies involved, and the other is Gigabit Fibre Limited (GFL) who will be bidding for the National Broadband Plan.

Basically, they wanted to build a pilot network somewhere in the country, and - being a wholesale-only operator - they wanted to partner with a retailer to prove the concept. After looking in several different parts of the country, they settled on Islandeady because it's fairly typical rural terrain, population density and demographics; it's relatively close to national backhaul in Castlebar (and to our core network for the purposes of providing retail services); and our CTO lives there, so he'll get to experience the product directly, rather than depending on second-hand accounts from customers.

irishgeo wrote: »

why are the council getting involved in this?

They're not, directly. GFL will be building physical infrastructure, which will necessarily involve dealings with the council. We've met members of the executive and some of the elected representatives to explain what we're doing, and they're supportive of the idea.

The Bull

Westnet: Paul wrote: »

We're one of the companies involved, and the other is Gigabit Fibre Limited (GFL) who will be bidding for the National Broadband Plan.

Basically, they wanted to build a pilot network somewhere in the country, and - being a wholesale-only operator - they wanted to partner with a retailer to prove the concept. After looking in several different parts of the country, they settled on Islandeady because it's fairly typical rural terrain, population density and demographics; it's relatively close to national backhaul in Castlebar (and to our core network for the purposes of providing retail services); and our CTO lives there, so he'll get to experience the product directly, rather than depending on second-hand accounts from customers.

They're not, directly. GFL will be building physical infrastructure, which will necessarily involve dealings with the council. We've met members of the executive and some of the elected representatives to explain what we're doing, and they're supportive of the idea.

Its great to get some info on it,

Paul I have a few sub questions that you may or may not be able to answer ?

How long do you think the bidding process will take ?

When can houses in the area expect to get the service or register interest in getting the service ?

How are you hoping the broadband will be delivered (Phone/Fibre/Other method) ?

What sort of download and upload speeds is the pilot scheme hoping to achieve ?

Thanks Paul

Westnet: Paul

I may not be able to answer all questions - either because we don't know yet, or because negotiations are still ongoing.

The Bull wrote: »

How long do you think the bidding process will take ?

That's really up to DCENR. The current plan is that there will be a pre-qualification process that will start around December, and the bidders that get through that process will enter the formal tender process, which should (!) finish mid-2016. You can get details of the NBP at www.broadband.gov.ie.

When can houses in the area expect to get the service or register interest in getting the service ?

We haven't finalised the actual geographic area of the pilot yet. The plan is to get that figured out so GFL can build the network in Jan-Feb.

How are you hoping the broadband will be delivered (Phone/Fibre/Other method) ?

Fibre to the premises.

What sort of download and upload speeds is the pilot scheme hoping to achieve ?

We're looking at offering a full 1Gb/s download and upload for the duration of the pilot. That won't be the standard commercial offering after the pilot, but the idea is to demonstrate that it can be done.

RMDrive

Paul (or anyone), any further update on this. It'd be great to know how it's progressing.